MOTU 2408 MKIII: blue screens + company acting jerky

[cmschols]

Hey all,

In my desperate search to get some problems solved I found these forums and was hoping someone here could help me out. Here goes:

I am the owner of a MOTU MIDI Express XT (MIDI Bay) and a MOTU 2408 MKIII, including PCI424 (express) card. As of lately the 2408/PCI424 is giving me alot of trouble with blue screens. I'm using Windows XP Service pack 3. I have had this device for about 5 months now, and it worked properly until recently. I tried alot of things to get issues resolved. Been browsing for days, trying every solution I encounter. I even had my main board replaced, new hard disc, reinstallations of everything under every service pack of Windows, but the problem remains.

I have sound through the MOTU. The CueMixer etc. work. All seems fine. But once I launch any Steinberg product, BOOM - blue screen of death saying:
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000000, 0x00000002, 0x00000008, 0x00000000)

(Those 4 STOP: 0x000000D1 parameters vary from crash to crash).

I have been a computer system designer, now a developer and am familiar with this kind of stuff. It's generally a hardware or driver problem. I tested all my hardware, everything is fine. When I start debugging the motuaw.sys driver's name keeps appearing. It has to be this. I have the feeling there's something wrong with the ASIO-part of it; since it only crashes once I use the device in Cubase/WaveLab. (Haven't tried other ASIO-device-using software). However - it always worked before, I have everything original, and all my equipment is in excellent shape.



Now... I was trying to get support from MOTU. Through the website. I had my MIDI Express XT registered, but not my MOTU 2408 apparently. So I went on to register it. Then I get the message it was already registered to another user. Never having registered the device, this can't be possible. I got this device about 5 months ago, brand new, packed and sealed in original box, etc. I tried to email MOTU about this, but my email keeps getting returned to me, saying the mail address doesn't exist. I 3493-doublechecked if I had any typos, even tried alternatives; same issue.

Then all of the sudden I get an email from the exact emailaddress I tried to mail, saying:

Thank you for your inquiry.
However, the serial number you've provided is already registered in our system under another name.


If you have purchased a previously registered MOTU product, you may transfer this registration by having the original owner contact MOTU Customer Service with the following:
• the name, address, phone #, and email address of the original registration
• the name, address, phone #, and email address of the new owner

Upon verification of the original registration we will transfer all licenses to the person indicated.
Alternatively the original owner may contact us at 617 576 2760 to complete this process.

MOTU Customer Service
617 576 2760 [Weekdays 9am-6pm Eastern]
617 576 3609 fax

So I replied to this mail and now everything went fine (it didn't get returned to me). Now I'm not getting any answer from them whatsover. I tried calling the number several times, but nothing.

I don't really care about my device being registered, but its required in order to get support for this defected malfunctioning piece. Why-oh-why does MOTU take up such stupid attitude? I payed for the thing, have warranty, I'm the original owner, I have the original papers, receipts, etc, but they keep giving me crap I'm not the original owner and simply won't respond when I mail again. What to do? Whether this gets sorted or not, MOTU is going into my black book for customer-unfriendliness. I don't really have the financial resources to adopt a lawyer to battle this issue, but if they keep acting like this I'll be forced to take up a governemental one - they shall fix this issue one way or another. I'm loosing money over this having to cancel running projects, having to decline new projects. I'm not gonna let my company get ruined because of MOTU's unwill to help on their own malfunctioning products.

Any help/tips/hints would be appreciated.




Regards,
Cor Schols
Ectoplasm Productions, The Netherlands

[billruys]

I would definitely be contacting the store I purchased the interface from and explaining your serial number problem to them. Maybe it was a returned item? Or, I guess it's possible that someone purchased a unit with a similar serial number and made a typo when they were registering. In any case, talk the the people you bought the interface from and get them on the job.

MOTU tech support is notoriously difficult to get hold of. I run a PCIe-424 and 2408 Mk3 in Vista and previously ran it on Windows XP 64-bit edition without any problems, but have not tried it on Windows XP SP3. All I can think to suggest is that you ensure your PCIe-424 is seated correctly, as PCIe 1x cards pull out of the motherboard slots very easily and sometimes the mating of the mounting bracket against the chassis is out enough to exacerbate the problem.